Students enjoy Touch a Truck

NORWALK — Honk! Honk! Students from Norwalk Catholic elementary school and the NCS Early Childhood Center made the most of the horns of the various trucks. Nearly 10 big trucks — including construction and farming vehicles — were part of the Touch a Truck event Wednesday for Catholic Schools Week. Norwalk Police Officer Amanda Blodgett and Huron County Sheriff's Deputy Abby Steinmetz were there with their cruisers, activating the lights and sirens. "It's just fun to see the smiles on the faces and getting them out here, to see something they might not normally see," said Brad Mesenburg, who works in the sales department at Mesenburg Bros. Inc. in Collins. Sixth-grade student Connor Roll climbed into the cab of a semi truck. "It's really tall," he said. "It (has a) really comfortable bed. … The horn is really loud." Lincoln Bolt, also in the sixth grade, said he decided to climb on a CAT 930 loader because it reminded him of the Tonka toy trucks he played with when he was younger. The NCS Catholic Schools Week committee coordinated the first-ever Touch a Truck event. "While brainstorming, this is something we came up with, just to invite different community members and different city (and county) departments … to come in and show off what they do on a daily basis (and) what equipment they use," said Danny Grine, a 2017 St. Paul High School graduate who works in the development office as a special event coordinator. Steve Wasniak and Cody Flew, the owner and an employee respectively of Wazu Concrete Pumping LLC in Norwalk, decided to bring a kickball to the event. Students lined up behind a mixer truck from Wm. Dauch Concrete Co. in Norwalk to throw the ball into the back of the truck, which was set up to roll it from inside the mixer down the chute. "Where the hopper is, where the kids are shooting the little kickball into, that's what loads up all your material — like the stones, sand and any other aggregates that go in there. It goes to the front of the drum; it spins really fast. All those products are what makes your concrete," said Joe Gerber, a mixer-driver. "Right now I just have the truck (set) on discharge, so the way the fins are set up, (so) every time these little kids shoot the ball in there, it brings the ball back to the back of the truck. So it's kind of a nice little basketball set-up." Mesenburg Bros. has been involved in similar Touch a Truck events. "We've done our fair share; it's our way to give back to kids in the community and show them there are careers out there that they can participate in and have fun," Mesenburg said. "Actually, the younger kids ask good questions. They want to know how (the truck) works and what you do. A lot of times we will bring samples out so they can touch and feel (them)." Grine smiled as he said there is a lot of joy in seeing the children explore the trucks and honk the horns. He sees the event as a way of giving back to the school he attended. "It's very neat. The school gave me so much, so I want to come up with ways to give back to them," Grine said.